The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1887-01-28


The Monterey Whaling company is
about the Oldest institution of the kind
on the coast, and the stock proves a very
fair investment to the holders, who are the
whale killers themselves. The business
office, store-room, and eating and sleeping
apartments of the company are in a white
adobe building in the western suburbs,
and half mile further south is a high
He is armed with powerful glass, and a
tall mast is rugged with halyards for hoist
ing a signal when game is sighted.
The hunting tools consist of three of
the regulation doubIe-pointed boats in use
by whalers the world over, five long oars
to each boat, 200 fathoms of line smoothly
cOiled in tubs in the bow, and two guns to
each boat. The larger size of the two has
the proportions of a young cannon and is
mounted on a pivot The missile dis
charged from it is steel bar four feet in
length, and provided with a folding barb
that opens out when the harpoon buries
itself in the whale. This takes the place
of the Old-time harpOOn, and is much
mole certain and effective. The lighter
gun is fired from the shoulder, and looks
like a large sized fOwling piece. II has
one and a-half inch bore. 1t Is used to put
the finishing touches on the whale after
method is to fire an explosive bomb into
vital spot The bomb is one and a half
inches IN diameter by eighteen inches
long, the butt end being winged with rub
Der tips, after the manner in which an
arrow is feathered, to secure guiding
power.
UNCONSCIOUS OF DANGER.
1t was early morning when the white
signal fiuttered to the top of the staff of
the mast on the cliff, and having pre-
viOusly obtained permission to join the
hunt with Capt Mariana, the quarter
master was speedily seated i'll the stern
sheets, awaiting the signal to shove off
This was soon given, and six miles to the
northwest the three boats came up with
their game, which proved to be unusually
large specimen of the California gray va
riety. The gigantic fish rolled lazily about
on top of the water, all unconscious of I'M
pending danger, and did not even deign to
notice the approach Of the boats that
came upon either side and behind her. a
hundred feet away the men lay on their
oars, and Capt Mariana over his swivel
gun. The men bent over their oars, with
every muscle ready to pull Or back water
at the slightest hostile r.Ovement on the
part of the enemy 1t was moment that
seemed an age of awful suspense 30 the
green hand, but suddenly the captain had
a fair mark presented, and pressed the
trigger. The boat qUivere1 under the
shock accompanying the report, and the
eye could plainly catch the flash of the
harpOOn as it cleaved the air and buried
itself out of sight somewhere in the right
shoulder. Attached to the steel missile
was the stout MANILA line coiled in the
bow, and it bore the appearance of flash
of brown lightning as it zigzagged
through the air after its powerful motor.
The whale hardly seemed to cOmpre-
bend the trouble that had Overtaken her
at first, and it was fully half a minute be-
fore she emitted an angry snort and
started for the bottom at rate that made
the line smoke and emit sparks as it ran
over the bows Both the captain and the
boat steerer peered uneasily into the clear
depths as the line stopped running out,
and minute later the former shouted:
Back all! Back hard!" The five ashen
blades bent and quivered with the strain
put on them, but it was none too much, as
the boat was scarcely dozen feet away
when the huge bulk of the infuriated
whale rose to the surface and spurted
twin columns of brine high in the air.
A MONSTER IN AGONY.
Before the animated WaterspOut could
repeat the dose the boat was out Of range,
both of the fire eXtinguishing apparatus
and the terrible fukes that soon com
menced to thrash the water into foam
Her cOntOrtiOns were 50 violent that the
captain could not get in shot with his
bomb gun, which he raised and lowered
half dozen times without pulling the
trigger Finally the fukes quit their
thrashing and like flash the leviathan
dashed away at terrible rate, burying
the boats bow between two walls of
water fully eighteen inches high, but the
speed was such that scarcely a drop en-
tered the boat. This gait was kept up for
a good ten minutes, and then the speed
commenced to slacken, and the wounded
monster swan easily and quietly on top
of the water
The living tug came to total standstill
az last, and, pulling around to a brOadside
position, the captain was given his OPP
Portunity. The second explosion was fol
lowed by the whistling of the rubber
winged bomb, which buried itself in the
great mass of the blubber. Scarcely had
the smoke cleared away from the bow be-
fore the muffled boom of the bomb ex-
plOding in the historical residence of
Jonah sounded the death kneu of the poor
old whale. The victims huge bulk grew
animated again, but only for a moment.
The fiukes thrashed violently for few
seconds, while the waterSpOuts became
tinged warm red. Struggles and spouts
became more and more contracted until,
with a last final effort, the inwardly
wounded monster rolled over and ex-
pred. The other boats made fast, and
hard pull of three hours landed the prize
on the beach, where it is to be cut up
San Francisco Alta.
Government Corral in War Times.
The government corral, near the Wash
iugton observatory, was one of the war
sights. At the commencement of 1853
there was 1909 teamsters and 1900
horses. the number of each varying from
time TO time. The number of govern
lnent wagons were almost in proportion
They covered acres upon acres of terri
tory, and extended for miles and miles
through the avenues and cross roads of
the city. The men, like the mules had
their good qualities and bad ones also
There was a hospital for the horses and |
mules and one for the teamsters, each of
which was kept quite full. AT the sugges-
gestion Of Capt. Dana, the quartermaster
of the corral, and IA very excellent officer
of the regular army, the teamsters set
apart / per cent of their pay, or about
25 cents each month, for hospital pur
ncsas apd the effect was to suODIV the